'My hobby makes me £200-a-month': Britons go the extra mile to keep to their budgets but lag behind as savers

Buying second hand furniture, using coupon and price comparison websites, and making the most of loyalty cards are some of the reasons why Britain is a nation of savvy spenders.

Britons are going out of their way to make ends meet, with a study by Standard Life finding that 92 per cent of us are using diverse tactics to make the most of their money.

Unfortunately, this same commitment is not shown when it comes to saving, with Standard Life finding only 8 per cent of people are trying to make the most of their nest eggs with a stocks and shares Isa.

'I TURNED A HOBBY INTO A BUSINESS TO BOOST MY FAMILY'S INCOME'

When Jamie Feist became a father for the first time, he had to deal with a drop in income as his wife went part-time at work.

For the 32-year-old from Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire, cutting costs buying second-hand furniture gave Jaime an idea to turn what became a hobby into something that could generate a replacement income.

A fan of furniture and interior design, Jamie drew admiring remarks from his friends and family about the work he'd done improving the furniture for his family home.

He started doing it for other people and has launched his own business, named Henry Paints Furniture - as he enlists the help of his 18-month-old son - and has been able to boost his income by around £200-a-month.

He said: 'When Henry was born, my wife obviously couldn’t go straight back to work, so we needed to generate some more income.

'Friends and family have always said they loved the Victorian up-cycled furniture I’ve created for our home, so I decided to start working on more pieces – and people kept buying them!

'It’s expensive raising a family and people can’t always afford to buy things full price anymore, so buying a second hand piece with bags of character is a great compromise.'

Julie Hutchinson, of Standard Life, said: 'The clear message from our research is that we, as a nation, are great at cutting costs but aren’t so savvy in translating that into ‘building savings’. We still need to give the savings we are making for our future a bit more TLC.

'From July this year we will be able to save up to £15k in the New ISA and we will also be able to transfer ISA savings freely between cash or stocks and shares.

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